The above graphic is two images in one. It’s an optical illusion. It says ‘optical’ or ‘illusion’ depending on how you look at it. When you look at the image you see one word while the other remains hidden. This image is also a good representation of a parable.

Parables are stories that seem to be very straightforward at first hearing, but they contain hidden meanings which are usually poignant moral lessons. This is especially true with the parables in the Bible and most especially with the parables Jesus told. The Bible is full of parables.

The question to be asked is: Why parables?

The predominant use of parables is one of the features of the bible that distinguish it from other literature. Parables give the Bible a unique characteristic. When I was young in my walk with Jesus, I began to ask the Lord this question: “How can a book with about one million words tell us all there is to know about a limitless God?” It seemed to me that only a book of unlimited words would be able to reveal everything about God’s unlimited character. The answer I eventually received was just one word, “Parables.”

With that my eyes were opened. That was it. The hidden messages of the parables make it possible for any aspect of God’s magnificent, endless character to be revealed. Take a moment to let that sink in to your inner being. Think about it, there is nothing about God, the One without beginning or end, that cannot be revealed through the parables of the Bible.

“Parables,” was the answer to another question I asked around the same time as the one above. The question was this: “Why are there just the stories that appear in the Bible and not, for instance, stories about Chinese people who were in existence during Bible times. Parables explains the reason. The stories selected for inclusion in the Bible were explicitly selected for their parabolic quality and capacity to explain God’s characteristics. That means every part of the Bible, even those we often wonder why they are there, such as much of the information in the book of Numbers, are included for a reason. The problem is not with some parts of the Bible, the problem is that our spiritual eyes and ears are not open wide enough for us to be able to receive the hidden lessons of those parables.

This is why I say the Bible is no ordinary book as some claim. Far from being ordinary, it is the most extraordinary collection of writings ever compiled. No other book or collection of books even begins to compare to the magnificence of the Bible.

But how can we come to know the lessons of the parables?

Jesus concluded the parable of the sower with these words:

“He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” (Mark 4:9) 

With these words Jesus was indicating there are those who can and those who cannot understand the parable. Mark’s narrative continues with the following:

10 As soon as He was alone, His followers, along with the twelve, began asking Him about the parables. (Mark 4:10)

11 And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God, but  those who are outside get everything in parables,

12 so that while seeing, they may see and not perceive, and while hearing, they may hear and not understand, otherwise they might return and be forgiven.” (Mark 4:10-12)

 Notice that verse 10 tells us that not only Jesus’ followers but also the twelve disciples were asking Him about the parable. In verse 11 He says that it has been granted to them to know the mystery of the kingdom of God. In other words, they should be able to understand the parable. Realizing that they, like most of us, did not understand this parable He asks the following important question:

And He  said to them, “Do you not understand this parable? How will you understand all the parables?” (Mark 4:13)

 Then Jesus does something that explains a lot. Rather than telling the questioners how they can obtain understanding, Jesus just goes ahead and explains the meaning of the parable to them indicated in verses 14 through 20.

In this way He did more than tell them how they could understand this parable, He demonstrated the way they, as well as all believers for all time, would understand all of the Bible’s parables. We know that Jesus explained all of the parables privately to His disciples.

33 With many such parables He was speaking the word to them [the people and the disciples], so far as they were able to hear it; 

34 and He did not speak to them without a parable; but He was  explaining everything privately to His own disciples. (Mark 4:33-34)

In this way, He demonstrates how we will understand all of the parables. That way quite simply is that He will explain them to us. While He was with them He explained the parables directly to them. Today, He explains the parables to His followers by His Spirit, that is, the Holy Spirit.

This is the way the Bible becomes a book of unlimited words able to describe every part of God’s unlimited nature. And this is how any and all believers can understand all of the parables of the Bible, the most wonderful book ever composed.

Ask the Lord to open your spiritual eyes and ears so you can become a seer and hearer of the parables in the Bible. When you see the things He will show you, you will be blessed beyond compare.

May you be showered with God’s blessings,

Peter Giardina